Do QR codes expire?
Short answer: no. A QR code is a pattern that stores data — there’s nothing inside it that can run out. But some QR codes do stop working, and it’s worth knowing why before you print 5,000 menus.
A QR code is just data
Every QR code is a grid of squares that encodes text: a web address, a Wi-Fi password, a contact card. Your phone reads that text directly from the image. No server is involved and there is no date inside. A static QR code printed in 2010 still scans today.
So why do some QR codes “expire”?
Many QR code services make dynamic codes by default. Instead of your web address, the code contains a short link to the provider’s server, which then redirects to your page. That lets them offer editing and scan statistics — and it means the code only works while their server keeps redirecting it.
When a subscription lapses, a trial ends or the company closes, the redirect stops. The printed code still scans, but it lands on an error page, an upgrade prompt, or nowhere at all.
How to tell which kind you have
Scan the code and look at the address before you open it. If it shows your own domain (yourbrand.com/menu), it’s static. If it shows the QR provider’s domain or a short link you don’t recognise, it’s dynamic — and it depends on them.
How to make a QR code that lasts
Use a static code that contains your real address. Better still, use an address on a domain you own: then you can change what that page shows, or redirect it, without reprinting anything and without paying a QR company.
Every code made on QRCode666 is static. It will never expire because of us.